News

Students at a Paying for College Bus Tour stop, Reading, PA

The Sallie Mae Fund announces African-American scholarship directory at the 2007 Congressional Black Caucus conference

"BlackCollegeDollars," available mid-October, will help African-American students identify and apply for money for college

RESTON, Va., Oct. 3, 2007—African-American college students and their families will have easier access to hundreds of scholarships and millions in scholarship dollars when a new directory is released later this month. Sponsored by The Sallie Mae Fund and produced by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, "Black College Dollars" will offer a comprehensive listing of more than 300 scholarships designed for African-American students.

The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, will collaborate with Black Entertainment Network to offer its 85 million viewers and Web users critical information about scholarships for college. In addition to promoting the directory, The Sallie Mae Fund and BET will create a special scholarship program to promote awareness that scholarships are more widely available than most students realize. Plans for the directory were announced at the 2007 Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.

"The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is honored to continue its partnership with The Sallie Mae Fund to provide a platform for students to discuss important and relevant issues," said Leslie Meek, chair of the CBC Spouses. "The Sallie Mae Fund has been instrumental in providing resources to help African-American families achieve their dream of a higher education."

The Sallie Mae Fund previewed "Black College Dollars" for Mrs. Meek and members of the CBC and their spouses at the CBC Spouses Essay Contest and Issue Forum, exclusively sponsored by The Sallie Mae Fund.

Containing listings of more than 300 scholarships for African-American students, the directory will be available in mid-October in both a print edition and a searchable online format, both free of charge. Students will be able to research scholarships by GPA requirement, academic and career interest, and application deadline.

Copies of the directory will be made available to schools, community groups and legislative offices that wish to participate in the scholarship awareness campaign. The Sallie Mae Fund and its partners will distribute 10,000 free copies of the directory to African-American high school and college students around the country, particularly through the national Paying for College Bus Tour.

The directory is a part of The Sallie Mae Fund's multi-faceted African-American College Access Initiative, launched in October 2005 to improve access to higher education among African-American students. The Sallie Mae Fund found that more than 90 percent of African-American families believe that a college education is an important part of success in life, but 25 percent of African-American students and 45 percent of parents could not name a single source of financial aid.

"Too many African-American students are unaware of the support and resources available to help them reach their dreams," said Kathleen deLaski, president of The Sallie Mae Fund. "We have partnered to create this directory as a companion to a similar national directory just completed for Latino students, LatinoCollegeDollars.org."

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The Sallie Mae Fund is a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae. The Fund achieves its mission—to increase access to a post-secondary education for America's students—by supporting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education, prepare families for their investment, and bridge the gap when no one else can. For more information, visit www.salliemaefund.org.